I had a chat to the fabulous Robin Spalding about art, darkness and aliens.

Heya Robin, how’s life? Where are you based and how old are you?

Well hello! I am 31 though we can all pretend I said 24 right?

The Great Escape

24 is a good answer :) When you’re not busy blowing my tiny little mind with your brilliant art, what do you like to get up to?

Currently I am based on the eastern shore of Virginia, but not for long, my husband is in the navy so we live wherever they send him. Seriously you are too sweet! I like to read A LOT, listen to music, watch movies, play fetch with my cats, not punctuate correctly therefore making people mad at me lol. I am sorry, I hate capital letters. [Editor’s note, I fixed all your punctuation! Mwuahaha!]

It seems like you’ve been interested in conceptual work for quite some time; I found some of your awesome film-based work from way back in 2003 while I was researching for this interview! What got you started with conceptual photography?

Actually I literally stumbled on it in college. I was in an artist slump/block/funk. I didn’t know what I wanted to do as an artist and I couldn’t think what to shoot for our biweekly project. I wasn’t into fashion, landscapes, etc. which is what most of my classmates were doing. I was tired of stuff I shot in a week’s time. Then some weird image I thought I glanced on tv while switching channels gave me an idea. I went out and shot the image of two girls with drapes over their faces holding balloons. It was an amazing shoot so much I went out the next day shot the umbrella series, still covering the faces of my subjects. I was surprised how although I shot it with just a vague idea of an image, they illustrated to a degree my journey through doubt and the block to find myself and move forward. I turned them both in for the project and had a lot of great feedback. I LOVED how others responded to the images and put their own thoughts, emotions, stories into the pictures. I realized this was my thing… I found my true passion in photography. To this day I still love those images I created. Because for me, each had a story, a connection to me.

The Sea Begins to Pull Him Away from Me

Wow, that sounds amazing! Who or what do you like to draw inspiration from?

Is it bad to say when I’m stressed, anxious or depressed? The ideas flow freely then. I am usually bubbly and happy but I do suffer from anxiety and depression. Illustrating what I am feeling/going through is a way to work through it. Also music is a huge source of inspiration. The imagery I see when I listen which usually is mirroring thoughts in my head. I use a lot of song titles as my art’s titles. Nine Inch Nails, Perfect Circle, Tori Amos to name a few musicians.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Brooke Shaden and it was her Creative Live class back in May that got me back into creating art. You can definitely see her influence in my work. I follow a lot of photographers online but I try to be careful because I don’t want to just copy what I see, which when I see all these fabulous photographers I am like omg I want to do that. So I try not to shoot after a Facebook stalking session. Lol.

Another Failed Attempt

Your work is very powerful, it’s both haunting and beautiful; you merge those two things oh so well. Does your art have personal meaning to you or are they just entirely random ideas?

Thank you so much. Most of my work is me dealing with all the craziness that is inside my head. So in a way it is like a diary of me. Mostly I sketch out ideas of how to show an emotion or issue I am working through. Right now a big issue for me is infertility, about a month or so ago I was hoping I was finally pregnant but I wasn’t. I could not stop crying thinking about how I do not have much time left to conceive and each “cycle” I go through is a lost chance. It almost felt like a death in a way, it hit me very hard but the image came to mind for “another failed attempt” and I stopped crying and started shooting and the process of working on that image soothed me. So the work I do is for myself, a way to get the mess in my head out so I can try to maintain normalcy. But it touches me when I hear from others that they found meaning or a connection to my work.

Something I Can Never Have

Let’s imagine for a minute you’re sent into outer space and you can only take your camera… Oh and since you’ve been good, you’re allowed to take another 5 items too. What will you take with you?

Oh my god, I am the world’s worst packer and I am afraid of aliens. So this question is giving me a panic attack. I guess for sure my ipod with all my music. My nook loaded with every book I’d ever want to read. My camera that goes without saying and of course my computer so I can edit. Oh no that leaves one thing left. . . items or people? Just items I guess a video game system. But of course my husband with Trent Reznor knocked out and tied to his back (so we can of course count them as one person tied up like that) also this ship will provide food like cookie dough correct? And my boots. Props for shoots. Oh and my best friends. Can we bring a bike? What about a piano to learn, but I want my cats to come . . . Hmm I think I just was told I can’t go…..

I Set Myself Up to Fail and Watch Myself Fall

Hahaha that’s a little more than 5! Can you tell us a little bit about your workflow? Does it stay the same for every image?

Sometimes I’ll have a sketch of the idea. Mostly I shoot and hopefully remember to get all the correct shots for compositing. I’ll try a few poses, get the hair flips….etc. Then I’ll open in bridge and work in CS5. I usually composite everything together first, mostly I’ll size to a square format, then clean up image. Then I start adding on textures, playing with the lighting and curves, more textures, then I’ll spend a while on subtle color edits. That is pretty much it.

You’re quite a few weeks into your 52-week project; How are you finding it so far? What do you hope to have achieved by the end?

Oh no! I was lol. I am soo scattered-brain I shoot a few at once then nothing for a few weeks. I can be a horrible procrastinator. I kinda stopped on it. Oopps. Though I am still shooting. I am really really bad at schedules. However I do hope that by end of this year I’ve improved on my photo and editing skills and maybe get more consistent with shooting.

Take to the Sky

Do you have plans for your photography; where do you hope to be a few years from now?

I dream of hopefully being able to make a living from photography eventually so I can focus on it all the time yet still support my family. I do hope to break into the book cover illustration world and it would be amazing to teach workshops.